Runway lighting control



May 23, 1950 Filed Oct. 25, 1945 M. H. SHELDON RUNWAY LIGHTING CONTROL 5Shets-Sheet l 7 B J Z, O JT NW3 34 5 56 32 BRIGHTNESS SELECTOR OFFOJRUNWAY s7lecroa I i J H H II? RuNwAYs LIGHTING CIKCUITS INVENTOR. HMALCOLM H. SHELDON.

l'l y H TTOENEX y 1950 M. H. SHELDON 2,509,018

RUNWAY LIGHTING CONTROL Filed Oct. 25, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 5 gg NI 1NVEN TOR. MA L COLM SHELDON.

5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed 001;. 25, 1945 INVENTOR. MALCOLM Al. SHELDON May23, 1950 D N 2,509,018

RUNWAY LIGHTING CONTROL INVENTOR. MA LCOLM H SHELDON y 3, 1950 M. H.SHELDQN 2,509,018

VRUNWAY LIGHTING CONTROL Filed Oct. 25. 1945 5 Shee'ts-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.A/lflLcoL/vl H SHELDON FITTOEA/EY Patented May 23, 1950 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April30, 1928; 3'70 0. G. 757) 6 Claims.

This invention relates to remote control systems and more particularlyto a control system used in regulating the lighting of airport runwaysand similar trafiic ways.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved electrical circuitfor airport runways.

Another object is to provide an electrical circult that will safeguardagainst destruction or damage to sensitive electrical elements in saidcircuit.

Another objectis to simplify the operation of the control system forairport runways or similar traffic lanes.

Another object is to provide a simplified control panel io'r' saidremote-control system.

Another object is to provide novel locking means to insure properselection of dials on said simplified control panel.

Further objects and advantages of this invention, as well as itsconstruction, arrangement and operation, will be apparent from thefollowing description and claims in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which Fig. 1 is a diagram of the electrical circuit of thepresent invention.

Fig. 2 is a front exterior view of the control chassis of said remotecontrol system.

Fig. 3 is: a plan view of the chassis shown in Fig. 2 with the coverplate removed to show clearly the components thereof.

Fig. 4 is an end View of the interlocking means my invention as seenfrom the rear of the chassis.

Fig. 5 is a rear view of the brightness selector certain portions beingomitted from the selector drum for purposes of clarity.

In Fig. 1', below the dashed line 9, there is shown a circuit generallydesignated A that supplies electrical energy from main lines It throughan oil circuit breaker l I, a constant current transformer I 2 andauto=transformer l3, and thence through intensity selector relays l4,l5, and I6, an through runway selector relays l1, l8, l9, and 210; torunway lighting circuits I, II, III, and A protective relay- 21: isplaced in the circuit A to insure that the oil circuit breaker II isdeenergized thus to open circuit circuit A in the eventthat any of. therunway lighting circuits along the runways should be broken while aplane crashes in taking ofi or landing on the particular run a in use.

The selector system B shown above line 9 comprises a: switch- 22 which.when closed, permits current to flow from a battery or other suitablelocal: supply of current through the leads 23.

2 lighting an indicating lamp 24 on the panel board 25 (Fig. 2) tosignal the operator of the selector system that power is available for abrightness selector drum 26. The brightness selector drum 26 (moreclearly shown in Fig. 3) is rotated by the handle 21 on the panel 25.

When the brightness selector drum 26 has been rotated to either of thefirst three positions shown on the drum 26 (Fig. 1) as by dashed linesI, 2 and 3, the said positions corresponding to dim, medium and brightintensity, respectively, (the fourth position shown by dashed line 4corresponding to medium intensity, its functions to be explainedsubsequently), the corresponding indicating or p lot lamp 28, 29, or 30will signal the operator the particular brightness selected. Similarly,after selection of brightness has been made, the desired runway isselected by turning the handle 3| (Figs. 2 and 3) that is keyed to theshaft of a runway selector drum 32, with lamps or pilot lights 33, 34,and 36 serving to indicate which runway has been selected. The closingof a switch 3'! completes the circuit between the selector circuit B andthe circuit A,

25 the indicating lamp 38, signaling, when lighted,

that the oil circuit breaker H has been closed and that the lights of adesired runway have been energized.

A mechanical interlock, shown in Figs. 3 and 4, connects the brightnessselector drum 26 to the runway selector drum 32 and insures a safe andcorrect operation of the runway lights. The interlock insures that theprimary circuit A cannot be closed unless a brightness selection hasfirst been made. It also insures that once a pre determined runway orgroup of runways have been selected, no change in brightness selectioncan be made unless the runway se ector drum 32 has been returned to theOE position. This sequence of operation insures that no current flowingthrough primary circuit A will be broken by tips of either brightness orrunway selector relays.

As shown in Fig. 4, the mechanical interlock consists of a pair of baseplates 38 one of which is secured adjacent the end face of thebrightness selector drum 26 while the other is similarly securedadjacent the end face of the runway selector drum 32. Keyed to shaft 39of the brightness selector drum 26 is a disc 4!] having cutout portions4|, at spaced intervals, about the periphery of said disc. 4! At the topface of said disc 49, at regularly spaced intervals, are other out out.portions or indentations 42. A bracket 43 pivotally supports a ratchetarm 4'4,

one end of which is urged counterclockwise by a spring 45 secured tosaid base plate 38. A rounded firm lip 46 depends from that end of theratchet arm 44 that is being urged clockwise by the action of the spring45. The lip 46 rides along the periphery of the disc 46, engaging thecut out portion 4| when the latter is juxtaposed against said lip 46.

A spring 47, bracket 48, ratchet arm 49, lip 50 and cut out portions 5|on the disc 52 secured to the shaft 53 of the runway selector drum 32correspond to like parts described hereinabove in connection with thebrightness selector drum 26. However, instead of the indentations 42formed in disc 40, a substantially V-shaped niche 54 is cut into the topface of the disc 52 so as to accommodate a V-shaped lug 55 that dependsfrom one end of a rocker member 56 which is pivoted near its center on astud 51. A lug or pin 58 depends from the other end of said rockermember 55 and rides on the top surface of the disc 4 said lug 58 fallinginto one of the indentations 42 when the latter is turned to a positionimmediately below the 111% 58.

A spring 59, an end of which is shown suitably secured to the rockermember 56, urges the V-shaped lug 55 against the top face of the disc52. The rocker member 56 is pivoted so that when the V-shaped lug 55 isriding on the top face of the disc 52, the pin 58 is urged against thetop face of the disc 40. The V-shaped niche 54 in the disc 52 engagesthe V-shaped lug 55 only when the handle 3| that is keyed to the shaft53 of the runway selector drum 32 is in the Off position.

Thus, the mechanical interlock insures that the brightness selectionmust be made before the runway dial 3| is turned from its Off position.For by turning the dial 3| from its Off position, the V-shaped lug 55 ismade to ride on the top surface of the disc 52, causing the pin 58 to belocked in the indentation 42 which correuntil the required brightnessfor that runway has been selected.

As shown in Fig. 3, the various commutator segments 60 and electricallyconducting fingers 6| are positioned relative to one another so that afinger 6| does not contact a commutator segment 60 of the brightnessselector drum 25 unless the pin 58 lies in an indentation 42corresponding to any of the intensity values, dim, medium or bright.There is no contact between a finger 6| and a commutator segment 60 whenthe handle 21 is turned to the Off position even though the pin 58 maybe resting in an indentation 42. Similarly, the fingers 62 of the runwayselector drum 32 do not engage the short commutator segments 63 unlessthe lip 50 of the ratchet arm 46 engages or is within the immediatevicinity of the out out portion 5| of the disc 52. Likewise, there is nocontact between a finger 62 and short commutator ring 63 or longcommutator ring 64 when the handle 3| for the runway selector drum 32 isin its Off position.

Thus, no current passes through either drum unless a selection has beenmade, the particular selection made being shown by the lighting up ofone of the indicating lamps on the panel board 25. Moreover, by usingdiscs 46 and 52 that have cut outs such as 4| and 5|, the personoperating the handles 21 and 3| on the panel board 25 can feel the drums26 or 32 look into position, there being no need for a careful turningof either handle 21 or 3| such as is required in the turning of agraduated dial of a control panel, and only one hand is needed tooperate the panel board 25.

Thus, the mechanical interlocking means combined with the commutatorsegments 60, 63, and 64 and fingers 6| and 62 on the brightness andrunway selector drums 26 and 32, respectively, insure a selection of aparticular brightness and a particular runway before current can passthrough the primary circuit A, even if switch 31 is closed. Moreover,the particular combination of instrumentalities, namely, a novel lockingmeans and novel drum segmentation, permit the use of a simple controlpanel, which a novice can learn to operate in a very short time. Anotherfeature, as will be described and explained, consists of switch meansincorporated in the runway selector drum 32 and in circuit from runwayselector drum 32 to primary circuit oil breaker l which prevents pick upand drop out of said circuit breaker while drum 32 is rotated frompositions I to 5, inclusive.

Fig. 5 illustrates in detail the structure of the drums and the mannerof mounting the same in panel board 25. For purposes of the presentdescription, only the brightness selector will be described, thedescription of the runway selector being deemed clear from thedescription of the brightness selector. There is shown a rod 10 which issecured at the respective ends to the upper base plate 38 and lower baseplate H as shown in Figure 3. Secured to this rod 10 is a non-conductingblock 12 that supports one of the selector fingers 6|. One of the pins13 that secures said finger 6| to the non-conducting block 12 is anelectrical conductor and connects with an electrical lead 14 which inturn is connected to a conducting post 15. A spring '16 is secured inthe manner shown so as constantly to urge the tip ll of finger 6|towards the periphery of the drum 26. The conducting segment 60protrudes beyond the periphery of the drum 26 and periodically engagesthe tip 11 of the finger 6|. These segments 60 protrude from the drum 26at difierent angular positions corresponding to different selections ofbrightness intensity, the different positions (I, 2, 3, 4) beingschematically shown on the brightness selector drum in Fig. 1. Thenon-conducting ribs 18 form the major body of said selector drum 26, andribs 18 being reinforced by the key stocks 15.

In Fig. 1, there are shown five short segments 63 that are positioned onthe runway selector drum 32 in the manner shown so that these segments63 will be contacted after a particular runway has been selected andwill be tripped out of the circuit just before the segment 64corresponding to this particular runway drops out. Thus, if a change ofselection from runway I to runway 11 is to be made, the turning of thehandle 3| of the runway selector drum 32 will cause one of the fingers62 to be disengaged from the short segment 63 while another finger BI isstill engaging the segment 64 corresponding to runway I. Thus, the shortsegment 63 is tripped out just before going from runway I to runway II,so that the coils of the primary circuit breaker I are deenergizedduring the change in selection from runway I to II. The same conditionapplies in going from the second runway selection to the third runwayselection, etc., so that the high voltage primary circuit can never bebroken across-the relays 11, in, 19 and 2 D, even if the switch 31 iskept closed while the runway selector drum 32 is being rotated.

"There are various units that are self-explanator such as the protectiverela 2 i in the primary circuit A and the resistors 66 in series witheach of the indicating ramps when the feed lines 23 take current from asource of powerwh'ose voltage is considerably higher than the voltage atsaid indicating lamps.

Another novel feature incorporated in the present invention "providesfor control from this ncvel'runway trait-1c contra panel Of the lightinger "all "four n'w'ays simultaneously. Airfields do not use all t i-rairstfips fc'r bpera'tionsin a single night because lanes take off ermake land'- ings against the prevailing wind. Thus, all lmcwn panelsused for controlling the lighting of airfield runways provide for thelighting of only one airstrip at a time, since the lighting of more thanone airstrip at a time for flight operations is not desirable. in thepresent disclosure, the runway 1 corresponds to a 10-190 orientation ofa straight runway and II corresponds to a 60-240 orientation of anotherstraight runway, etc. So if a southerly wind prevails at the landingfield, the airstrip I would be lit for night landings or when visibilityat the landing field is restricted. However, during bad weather whensnow and/or ice covers all airstri'ps, it is helpful to be able to lightup all (in the present example, there are four) runways simultaneouslyso that the runways can be cleared of ice andlor snow by working partiesworking on all air-strips at once. Previously, attempts to clean'air'strips with my one strip capable of being lighted by the controlpanel resulted in damage to the runway lights by the snow removalequipment as the uniighte'd lamps or markers were difficult todistinguish in the dark, especially when overcast skies prevail (theusual condition during steady snowfall).

In order to light all runways simultaneously, the brightness selectordrum is turned to the 4th position (Fig. 1) and the runway selector drum3'2 is turned to the 5th position '(Fi'g. 1), switches 22" and 3'! beingclosed. From the diagram in Fig. 1 it will be seen that all four runwaysare lighted and the auto-transformer I3 is lay-passed so that themaximum current goes through the lights of all four runways I, II, IIIand IV.

The operation of the control panels 25 which remotely controls thelighting of the runways shown in Fig. 1 is very simple. First the switch22 is closed so that current is available for light ing the indicatinglamps of the panel 25 and for energizing the relays l4 through 20. Thebrightness selection is made by turning the handle 21 clockwise, thusenergizing the desired brightness relay. The particular runway is thenselected, the operator feeling the drum 32 lock in place when aparticular selection has been made just as he feels the brightnessselector drum 26 lock in place when a particular brightness has beenselected. The switch 3'! is then closed to light the runway or runwaysselected, the mechanical interlock insuring that no lighting of a runwaywill take place unless a preliminary selection of light intensity forsaid runway has been made.

The present control panel prevents the possi bility of damaging thesensitive selector relays used in the circuit A of the runway circuitdescribed by providing novel interlock means between the brightnessselector drum 26 and runway selector drum 32 and switch meansincorpcrated said runway se ector drum 3!. Mereever, the panel isexceedingly simlfle in design and operation, permitting almost immediateoperation by a novice without endangering electrical equipment in therunway lighting circuit. Also, the present control panel provides forthe lighting of all runways simultaneously, a feature, as was explainedpreviously, of considerable importance when runways have to be cleanedof snow, ice or debris. 1

Changes can be made in the above-described embodiment of this inventionwithout departing from the spirit and scope thereof as set forth intheappended claims. {he invention described herein may be manufacturedand used by or for the Government of the United States of America forgovernmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon ortherefor.

What is claimed is:

1. An electrical system comprising means adapted on energization thereofto define a plurality of sources of voltage, a first group of relayswitches individually connected to said source- 'definin'g means, pluralcircuits to be energized, a

second group of relay switches individually connected with each of thecircuits, a voltage selector switch and a circuit selector switch foractuating said first and second groups of relay switches, respectively,to effect connection of a seiected source of voltage with a selectedcircuit, means for energizing source-defining means, said energizingmeans including a circuit breaker, and means for actuating said circuitbreaker to energize said source-defining means when said voltage andcircuit selector switches are adjusted to effect connection of aselected source of voltage with a selected circuit, said last meansbeing effective for actuating the circuit breaker to deenergize saidsource defining means when the selector switches are not so adjusted andduring change in adjustment thereof.

2. An electrical system comprising means energizable to define pluralsources of voltage, a first set of relay switches individually connectedto .said sources, plural circuits to be energized, a

second group of relay switches individually connected to said circuits,a voltage selector switch and a circuit selector switch for respectivelyactuating said first and second groups of relays to effect connection ofa selected source of voltage with a selected circuit, means forenergizing the voltage source, a circuit breaker connected with theenergizing means, and means for actuating the circuit breaker toenergize the voltage source when the voltage and circuit selectorswitches are adjusted to efiect connection of a selected source ofvoltage with a selected circuit, said last means being effective foractuating the circuit breaker to de-energize the voltage source when theselector switches are not so adjusted and during change in adjustmentthereof, said means for actuating the circuit breaker including acircuit connected to the circuit breaker and having contacts in one ofsaid selector switches, said contacts being actuated by adjustment ofthe selector switch to open and close the last-named circuit.

3. An electrical system comprising a transformer having plural outputterminals, a first set of relay switches individually connected to pairsof said terminals, plural circuits to be energized, a second set ofswitches individually connected to each of the circuits, a voltageselector switch and a circuit selector switch for respectively actuatingsaid first and second sets of relays to connect a selected pair ofterminals with a selected circuit, means for energizing saidtransformer, a circuit breaker connected with the energizing means, andmeans for actuating the circuit breaker to energize said transformerwhen the voltage and circuit selector switches are adjusted to effectconnection of a selected pair of terminals with a selected circuit, saidlast means being effective for actuating the circuit breaker tode-energize said transformer when the selector switches are not soadjusted and during change in adjustment thereof, said means foractuating the circuit breaker including a circuit connected to thecircuit breaker and having contacts in one of said selector switches,said contacts being actuated by adjustment of the selector switch toopen and close the last circuit, and mechanical means interconnectingsaid selector switches for locking one of said switches againstadjustment in predetermined position, and means on the other selectorswitch for upsetting the lock to release the first selector switch whenthe other selector switch is in predetermined position.

4. An electrical system comprising means adapted on energization thereofto define a plurality of sources of voltage, a first group of relayswitches individually connected to said sourcedefining means, pluralcircuits to be energized, a second group of relay switches individuallyconnected to each of the circuits, selector switch means for actuatingsaid first and second groups of relay switches to effect connection of aselected source of voltage with a selected circuit, means for energizingsaid source-defining means and including a circuit breaker, and meansfor actuating said circuit breaker to energize said sourcedefining meansonly when said selector switch means are adjusted to efiect connectionof a selected source of voltage with a selected circuit.

5. The system as defined in claim 4 wherein said plural circuits to beenergized comprise a plurality of lighting circuits for airport runwayillumination.

6. An airfield-runway lighting system comprising means adapted onenergization thereof to define a plurality of sources of voltage, afirst group of relay switches individually connected to 8 saidsource-defining means, a pluralityof runway-lighting circuits to beenergized, a second group of relay switches individually connected Iwith each of the circuits, a brightness selector switch and a runwayselector switch for actuating said first and second groups of relayswitches, respectively, to effect connection of a sdected source ofvoltage with a selected circuit, means for energizing saidsource-defining means, said energizing means including a circuitbreaker, and means for actuating said circuit breaker to energize saidsource-defining means when said brightness and runway selector switchesare adjusted to eifect connection of a selected source of voltage with aselected circuit, said last means being effective for actuating thecircuit breaker to deenergize said source-defining means when theselector switches are not so adjusted and during change in adjustmentthereof.

MALCOLM H. SHELDON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 529,532 Scribner Nov. 20, 1894580,929 Colgate Apr. 20, 1897 933,211 Valkenburg Sept. 7, 1909 1,640,542Fuller Aug. 30, 1927 1,682,938 Simon Sept. 4, 1928 1,721,478 StockingJuly 16, 1929 1,736,454 Masek Nov. 19, 1929 1,764,411 Masek June 17,1930 2,065,859 Kirk Dec. 29, 1936 2,080,964 Forstrom May 18, 19372,101,430 Goldbert Dec. 7, 1937 2,108,634 Wilms Feb. 15, 1938 2,296,936Logan Sept. 29, 1942 2,322,225 Crane June 22, 1943 2,328,801 HammellSept. 7, 1943 2,397,907 Akin Apr. 9, 1946 OTHER REFERENCES ElectricalEngineering, pp. 64-67, Feb. 1943. Instruments, pp. 163-164, Mar. 1943.

